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Perpetual Debt Machine: U.S. National Debt Is 5000 Times Larger Than When The Federal Reserve Was Created

By Michael Snyder, on February 21st, 2012

Have you noticed that very few people in the mainstream media ever directly criticize the Federal Reserve? But why should that be the case? Criticizing top politicians from both major political parties has become a national pastime. Most Americans love to throw mud at either the Republicans or the Democrats. But we are told that the Federal Reserve is “above politics” and that it is absolutely vital that the Fed remain “independent”. The reality is that the Federal Reserve has more control over the performance of the U.S. economy than the president even does, and yet most Americans never spend much time thinking about the Fed at all. It is almost as if someone has instructed us to “ignore the man behind the curtain” and most of us just blindly obey. With the economy in such a mess and with the national debt exploding so dramatically, isn’t it about time that we had a national conversation about the performance of the Federal Reserve? Isn’t it about time that we evaluated whether the Federal Reserve is doing a good job or not?

Today I came across a Bloomberg article that was full of endless praise for the secretive Jekyll Island conference in 1910 that developed the plan for the Federal Reserve system. The following is a very brief excerpt from that article….

Although it may seem shocking to watch the 112th Congress, there was a time when national leaders were swift and decisive in getting things done. In November 1910, in the space of less than two weeks, a group of government and business leaders fashioned a powerful new financial system that has survived a century, two world wars, a Great Depression and many recessions.

But has this “powerful new financial system” really performed well for the American people?

The Federal Reserve system has now been in place for about 100 years. That is certainly long enough to evaluate how well it has performed.

So has the Federal Reserve done a good job?

Well, one of the things that the Federal Reserve is charged with doing is to protect the value of our currency. In other words, they are supposed to keep inflation under control.

In that regard, the Federal Reserve has failed miserably. The U.S. dollar has lost 96.2 percent of its value since 1900, and almost 100 percent of that decline has come during the Federal Reserve era.

The other half of the Federal Reserve’s “dual mandate” is to keep unemployment low.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the Fed has failed there too.

In the United States today, there are less jobs than there were a decade ago even though we have added more than 30 million more people to the population since then.

So, no, the Federal Reserve is not doing a good job of keeping us all employed.

We are also told that the era before the Federal Reserve was created was a time when great “financial panics” happened on a regular basis and that the Federal Reserve was created to stop them from happening.

So has the Federal Reserve been effective at preventing financial panics?

Well, current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has openly admitted that the Federal Reserve helped cause the Great Depression of the 1930s.

And there have been 10 separate economic recessions since 1950.

So that is not a really great track record.

In addition, it seems very clear that the foolish low interest rate policies of the Fed fueled the massive housing bubble that plunged the U.S. economy into the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression when it finally crashed.

Shouldn’t the Federal Reserve receive some criticism for that?

Of course one of the biggest problems with the Federal Reserve is that it is a perpetual debt machine.

If you do now know where our money comes from in the United States, please see this article. The Federal Reserve system was designed to perpetually expand the money supply and to perpetually expand U.S. government debt.

On both counts, it has performed brilliantly.

When the Federal Reserve was created, the U.S. national debt was less than 3 billion dollars.

Today, it is more than 5000 times larger.

What is the appropriate word to use when something is 5000 times worse than it used to be?

At the moment, the U.S. national debt is sitting at a grand total of $15,416,323,644,046.76.

We are passing the biggest debt in the history of the world on to our children, and it is increasing at a rate of 150 million dollars an hour.

When will the American people finally wake up?

When you simply look at performance, the truth is that it is really hard to deny that the Federal Reserve has been a complete and total nightmare for the United States.

But instead of shutting it down, Congress has been giving the Federal Reserve even more power. The Dodd-Frank bill gave the Fed significant new powers and substantial new responsibilities, and the Fed has been exercising those new powers in almost complete secrecy.

While many Americans may not realize it, the Fed has taken on a much larger regulatory role than at any time in history. Since the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul became law in July 2010, the Fed has held 47 separate votes on financial regulations, and scores more are coming. In the process it is reshaping the U.S. financial industry by directing banks on how much capital they must hold, what kind of trading they can engage in and what kind of fees they can charge retailers on debit-card transactions.

The Fed is making these sweeping changes—the most dramatic since the Great Depression—almost completely without public meetings.

Does that sound very “democratic” to you?

Why should the Federal Reserve have more power over the economy than anyone else in America?

Why should the Federal Reserve be “above politics” and “above criticism”?

Unfortunately, central banking is one of the few things that almost every nation on earth can agree on.

Did you know that all 187 nations that belong to the IMF have a central bank?

Sadly, the vast majority of the people out there have no idea that central banking is just a giant money making scam.

Central banks are allowed to create money out of thin air which is then lent to national governments. In turn, the citizens of those nations have to pay higher taxes in order to pay the interest on those debts.

Central banking is a way to systematically take wealth from the citizens of a nation and transfer it into the pockets of those that enjoy getting rich by lending money to governments.

When it comes to taking money out of the pockets of the American people, the Federal Reserve is definitely doing a good job.

Our entire economic system is based on debt, and such a system is inevitably going to fail eventually. We need to shut down the Federal Reserve and quit using debt-based currency.

We need to educate the American people about where money comes from and about why central banking is so destructive.

Please share this article and other articles like it with as many people as you can.

I’ve got my own hideout on Hyde Island. I’m ready to shoot some rockets off at Jekyll Island. This is war!!

ahem…

Gary2

Good point about the fed. Their full employment mandate seems to have been forgotten.

Off Topic:

Has anyone heard if they are going to redesign the one dollar bill to look like the other denominations?

http://lastdayrapture.blogspot.com/ TK

Soon there will not be any need for dollar bills, especially the way prices are sky rocketing. The dollar stores will become $10 dollar stores!

mondobeyondo

Whew, those smelling salts sure helped!

Okay, back to the main argument.

The Federal Reserve has been a massive failure on all counts.

It has not decreased unemployment, nor has it kept inflation under control, nor has it stopped financial panics (some may argue that 2008 is an excellent example of the Fed intervening to stop a global financial panic, but I disagree). It certainly didn’t stop the stock market crash of 1929.

And so on, and so forth…

david casciano

fed created @jekyll island in 1913 not 1910…good article

BenjiK

Q: “What is the appropriate word to use when something is 5000 times worse than it used to be?”

A: Maybe one needs to be invented. I vote for “Fed-astrophe”…..

Michael

I like it!

Michael

nobody

Amen to this article. The Fed serves banks first. That was the crux of Jekyll Island and creation of a central bank called the Federal Reserve which is not really Federal and has no Reserves.

I won’t say the US Treasury would have done better, but at least it is Federal and controls some reserves (if any still exist).

Like Mr. Ron Paul, I’d like to get the Fed monkey off our backs. It is an unnecessary intermediary and should be eliminated.

Hognutz

What about their stable currency mandate? 2% over your working lifetime? Wow, no wonder no one saves money any more. It would just be inflated away.

What the FED is doing is treasonous and they should be put on trial…….its against the Constitution and against the people.!

ScoutMotto

Good article Michael. I’ve been an advocate of abolishing the Fed since 1993. A bunch of us marched on Washington in September of 93 to make ourselves heard. Sadly, it was a small turnout of maybe 2,500 people.

Be warned, the bankers will not go down without a massive fight. I would not be surprised if the war brewing in the Middle East is halfway intended to distract the people in the US< to divert their attention away from the bankers.

Chris

Is the Federal Reserve doing a good job?

Well that depends on what it’s purpose is doesn’t it? If it’s purpose is to periodically fleece the 99% of the population through manipulated booms and busts and inflation and thus preserve the pyramid of wealth and power with the 1% at the top then it has done a good job. If it’s job is to supply an endless amount of credit and fiat to enable the USA to fight nearly infinite wars and illegal wars to create a global empire then it could also be said to have done a good job.

If you think it was set up for the good of the people of the USA and not a select few then you’re going to be upset.

William

The Fed is part of the international Rothschild banking cartel. The FED is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and has devalued the US dollar by about 96% since 1913. The mere fact that this UNCONSTITUTIONAL entity named the Federal Reserve has existed for almost 100 years is clear proof that America is governed by FOOLS. Now, is that doing a “good job”?

REED RICHARDS

Michael,

WHERE IS THE PEOPLE’S ARTICLE ON THE TSA?

We all know that the FED is doing a horrible job and with its fiat currency destroying the world’s economy, these facts are self evident. This nonsense about the mandate of the FED being to keep inflation in check and promote full employment is bull, complete bull. The FED was created for one reason and one reason only, to benefit the banking membership of its crooked cartel, period…………….

Michael

I have written many articles about the TSA and I included them in this article that I posted just the other day….

The TSA may be tired of the spotlight and the scrutiny, but a necessary evil to ensure its demise. The TSA has no place in society, it is merely a gang of crooks, pedophiles and perverts, and if the amerikan people had any backbone, they would be demanding an end to the TSA right now…………..

Kris

The Federal Reserve, Democrats, Republicans, and the President…they are all in bed together.

The only answer is to go off grid and live self-sufficiant. I myself have been begging my family to get on board, with much struggle.

Learn how to grow your own food and basic skills before it’s too late.

http://lastdayrapture.blogspot.com/ TK

Do not forget to vote for Ron Paul!
END THE FED!!!!

xander cross

Yeah, vote for the racist guy that is working with Romney to win the GOP. Just like what happen in Maine.

http://lastdayrapture.blogspot.com/ TK

what part of END THE FED are you against!
and why do all liberals pull out the race card? because they lack facts!!!

pranah

I live in Michigan. The Repub primary will be held here on Feb. 28. Last evening I went to a Ron Paul rally at Central Michigan University. The 1200-seat auditorium was filled to capacity, and those who couldn’t get seats were in the lobby where audio of the rally was piped in. There were lots of students, of course, but there was also a sizeable contingent of older folks, and 28 servicemen (from WW II to some currently serving) were on the stage with Dr. Paul. He spoke about 45 minutes, was interrupted repeatedly for prolonged applause, and had us on our feet numerous times. He talked about ending the Fed (massive applause and roars of approval there), ending the wars of aggression and bringing our people home, sound monetary policy (including a return to some form of gold standard), ending the perpetual debt machine and fraud emanating from Washington, and so on and on. After the rally, people were stuffing cash and donation envelopes into the donation boxes. People leaving the building were chatting animatedly about the speech and the points Dr. Paul had made.

Funny–reading the news here and on line, you’d think only Romney and Santorum were campaigning in Michigan. I don’t see anything in today’s news about the big crowd Dr. Paul drew or the overwhelmingly positive response he received at Central Michigan (though I don’t live in Mt. Pleasant so maybe there’s something in their papers).

Ron Paul 2012!

pranah

I checked on line and there is a nice article from Mt. Pleasant’s paper, The Morning Sun, about Dr. Paul’s 2/25 rally at Central Michigan. There are some vids on YouTube showing the enthusiasm of the crowd, including this half-minute one:

This was the floor of the auditorium. I was in the balcony, which you can’t see from the vid. Other supporters were in the lobby, unable to get seats. People showed exuberance like you see here all the way through Dr. Paul’s speech.

Ron Paul 2012!

REED RICHARDS

Kris,

Just don’t go to North Dakota and have any stray cattle wonder on your land. If that was to happen, you’ll be eating a predator drone in rather short order…………

Matthew

Hell yeah the FED is doing a good job… for the shareholders of the biggest and most powerful banks around the world that own the private stock of the FED!

I have to admit that I didn’t have a clue about the FED for many years and one day came across a video called “The Money Masters” on YouTube that woke me up.

This video will explain in factual reporting the history of central banking and why no one in the lame stream media will EVER talk about abolishing them. I urge anyone who hasn’t seen it to watch it.

Cinderella Man

Yeah the FED is doing a GREAT job of extorting the American sheeple out of their finanical futures. You cant save money due to low interest rates forcing you to invest your money into the crooked scheme that is the stock market. Your fiat dollar dosent buy you jack anymore, and the govt. will just maniuplate the stats on unemployment and inflation to make Uncle Ben look like he’s in control. Yep gotta love the FED our only hope!!

http://goto.glocalnet.net/pdn/ Urtica dioica

They ARE doing a good job, just look at all arrogant americans!!!

VegasBob

Regardless of its mandates, the Federal Reserve exists only to ensure profitability for its constituent banks who are the real owners of the Fed.

The current Chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, has a track record of failure and incompetence unparalleled in American history.

In a sane society, Mr. Bernanke’s actions as Fed Chairman would have resulted in numerous criminal indictments as follows:

1. Counterfeiting – by electronically “printing” $2.3 trillion and calling it “quantitative easing.”
2. Grand theft and fraud – for directly stealing over $1 trillion from honest hardworking savers through his zero interest rate policies, and for indirectly stealing trillion$ more through inflation.
3. Perjury – for lying to Congress on numerous occasions.
4. Treason – for the aggregation of criminal acts listed in points 1, 2 and 3.

If we were living in the early 1900s instead of the 21st century, Mr. Bernanke and his fellow economist clowns who engaged in the crimes listed above would likely be facing a date with ***********************.

jsmith

Thank you Michael for this article and all the other one’s as well. I will email it to all my friends. I’m disheartened that there are so many people out there that have no idea or are ignorant of what is going on. You would think they would, specially with such an important matter relating to their finances!

Terry Gregg

The Fed is definitely the icing on a rotten cake. I can only describe the state of America as “Insanity on Steroids”. Totally out of control. Corruption runs rampant at every level. You know it, I know it, and everyone knows it. But most sickening of all is that I don’t think there is enough truth, justice, morality and, most of all, intestinal fortitude (guts) in the American public to make the country it never has been, but could be.

In an attempt to do at least something, I have started a petition at Change.org petitioning Congress to Pass “One Subject at a Time” Legislation that Representative Tom Marino of Pennsylvania has sponsored (HR 3806). Change.org is the website that Molly Katchpole used to petition Bank of America to drop a new $5/month banking fee; 300,000 people signed the petition and in less than 1 month B of A dropped the new fee.

How about the orchastrated”bankruptcy” of GM? Thereby stealing all of the hard-earned investments of numerous folks to give to union buddies in return for votes in the next election. Change??

http://dneotchka.wordpress.com Denotchka

I find this whole thing insane! I can’t believe that we allowed a bunch of bankers to take us over! We were WARNED ABOUT THIS TOO! The ROthcihlds tried in the 18th century to take over Britain and eventually did. I’m guessing this also factored into our revolution eventually and also made us realize jsut how dangerous they areally are so we would do well to listen to the FOunding Faters and not get into this stuff, but we didn’t listen and look wehere we are right now…. WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!!!!!

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com Anon Patriot

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!

Congressman Ron Paul’s H.R. 459, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, could come up for a vote at any time! (7/25/2012)